"That was the worst display of broadcasting I've seen in my entire life. CBS probably would have been better off if it had just kept the screen blank for the whole half hour. We are all stupider for having witnessed it. I spent most of the rest of the third quarter sweeping up all my dead brain cells off the floor."

"Last night's blackout was a historic demonstration of vapidity. There was no information. There was no backup plan. The commercial stretches to fill time (drink Bud Goth!) were ENDLESS; it was as if CBS were terrified of letting its studio crew talk again."

The main criticisms seem to be that 1), CBS didn't give the audience information about what was going on, 2) the studio show guys were just talking out of their butts.

In our opinion, the studio crew of James Brown, Shannon Sharpe, Bill Cowher, and Dan Marino wasn't that terrible, given the circumstances. But it was clear that they were at a loss for words when Cowher awkwardly suggested that the 49ers put in Alex Smith at quarterback, and then immediately backtracked.